Post by Maximor on May 19, 2017 5:37:14 GMT
"Initiating Level 5 Reflex Test," a female robotic voice from an intercom announced in the large indoor training room. Three robots emerged from a wall panel, humanoid and built for close combat. A lone, unarmed fox girl in the middle of the room took a combat stance and waited as the androids closed in on her.
From several windows distributed throughout the room, humans in lab coats watched as the three robots approached the fox girl, this was their final chance to get the results they desired with the F series. The fox, designated F-021, was the product of their project to create a fully natural super soldier, she was the twenty-first in her series, and the last one alive. Like her predecessors, she was subjected to grueling training and experiments that carried the possibility of her death. The Level 5 Reflex Test was one of these experiments, it was the last one she needed to complete to be approved for combat and field use. This test had killed the three previous members of her series, for in this level of the test, combat was no longer simulated, the androids no longer held back and attacked at startling speeds with attacks that could easily break bones. There was no way to really fight them back either, since they seemed to be unaffected by melee attacks, all one could do was dodge their blows and try to survive until the time was up. One minute was a long time in a combat scenario, but that was how long she had to survive for the test to be considered a success.
"Countdown begins now," the intercom spoke as a screen with a timer began counting down. The robots began their attack with astonishing speed and closed in on the fox in less than two seconds. The fox girl just stayed in the same position, then acted at the last second, dodging the blows with little effort. One male scientist raised a brow at this, in the previous tests their subjects used a lot more movement to evade incoming attacks and often had set themselves up for a killing blow, so seeing their last subject using minimal effort to avoid attacks gave him hope that this project would be a success. The androids coordinated their attacks aggressively, but the fox girl kept dodging them easily as if she could see everything that was going on around her. She maneuvered to put her enemies between each other, so that way they weren't able to surround and overwhelm her. She had made it to the thirty-second mark, a point that none of the previous subjects were able to reach.
The androids became even more aggressive on their offensive, using more rapid attacks that no longer resembled the punches and kicks they were using before. This change made it harder for the fox to dodge the attacks, making her movements less graceful. She wasn't going to be able to keep this up for long. In the confusion, she noticed one of the androids closing, it was trying to set her up for another one to attack. The researchers watched anxiously as they anticipated her defeat, but they had no idea what would happen next.
The fox girl did something that the scientists didn't think she would do, she fought back. She hopped into the air and performed a spinning back kick on the approaching robot, knocking it off its feet and onto the ground. The onlookers were baffled by this sudden move, they thought she would be too busy dodging her enemies to do anything else, but she just knocked down a combat android with a single kick. The other two robots rushed her from both directions, but she rolled out of the way and got behind one of them. In this moment, she noticed a cord sticking out the back of the robots head and saw that all of them had this feature. She grabbed her target by the cord, and with a few violent yanks she ripped it right out and shut down the robot. The scientists running the test grew even more excited after they saw the fox girl disable one of the robots; defeating the robots was not part of this test being considered a success, but it was more than they could have ever hoped for with all their work and research leading up to this moment.
By now, the android she had knocked down had gotten back up and went over continue the engagement alongside the other active one. They resumed their combined blows in an effort to take out the fox, but she kept evading and countering. At one point she flipped one of the androids over her shoulder and ripped its cord out, leaving her with only one enemy standing. The fox girl was taken by surprise when the robot feinted a move, it followed this with a very fast and strong punch to the solar plexus that knocked her back some yards away. The crowd observing the fight gasped, for their creation had taken a hard hit and was in a very bad position now, they feared that the robot would end this with just one more blow while she was down on the ground. It stood right next to the downed fox and lifted its foot into the air, ready to crush her skull. Before it could smash her head, she hooked one foot around its ankle and used her legs in a last ditch attempt to trip it. This move worked, the android fell hard onto the floor and was stunned by the shock of the impact, giving the fox her chance to reach for its cord and deactivate it.
Everyone had been so focused on the entire fight that everyone forgot about the timer, which had expired a while ago. The fox girl had not only passed this test, she had exceeded the expectations of her creators by far. She was an experimental super soldier, but she had no synthetic enhancements, drugs or anything like that; she was the a more natural product from decades of research in a genome project, but the scientists never had seen any of their subjects in a low tier such as F able to defeat three combat androids on their hardest setting while unarmed, this was something else.
"Administrator Thorn," one of the scientists at the windows spoke into an intercom, "We request that you come down at once, our project is a success."
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The fox girl was brought to an observation room just outside of the test chamber, there her body was examined for injuries sustained during the fight. "Not even a fracture," a young scientist checked where the fox had been hit by the android, "A blow like that is enough to kill or incapacitate the average man, yet F-021 shrugged it off like nothing!" "Yes," another researcher in the room agreed, "Our project has not only met the desired goals, it surpassed them with flying colors." Another person in a lab coat stepped forward, saying, "The directors will be pleased to see what has been accomplished today. One of them is on their way down right now." As all of this happened, the fox girl stared blankly ahead, not expressing any feelings at all. She wasn't meant to be happy or sad, she was just meant to succeed, she was their project, and in all the time she had spent going through their experiments and training, she never did have time to develop much of a personality, not that her creators would have allowed it.
A man in a grey uniform with medals entered the room and met the other scientists. "That was quite amusing to watch you know," he said, referring to a recording of the test, "I've never seen anything like that before, an organic form neutralizing three androids in hand-to-hand combat." One man, the apparent leader of the project replied to his superior, "Glad to hear it sir. Now that everything is done, is this ready to be taken up to the committee?" Administrator Thorn replied, "Slow down Carter. Yes, the project is ready for that step, but slow down, I think that's enough excitement for one day."
The scientist who had been examining the fox came over to join the conversation. "Might I suggest something, sir," he asked Thorn. Carter quickly tried to interrupt him, "Not now Will, we'll talk about it later." "Talk about what later?" their superior asked them with suspicion, "Speak up, tell me what's on your mind." Despite Carter's disapproval, Will explained, "We've just been thinking about our project. We wanted to propose the idea of changing the designation of our experiment, or at least giving her an alias to use in place of her number." The administrator agreed, "I'll admit, F-021 is a mouthful. So what would you call it then?" "Winona," the young scientist replied, "or Win for short." "Any reason why you picked that name?" Thorn inquired. "It's the name of one of our favorite actors," he answered his superior. "Very well", the administrator responded coldly, "But don't forget what she is, she's not a person and she's not a pet." "Understood sir," Will nervously fretted as his superior walked away.
"Winona..." the fox girl thought about her new name. She didn't know what to think about it, she didn't like or dislike it. Even if she hated it she couldn't object, they would never listen to her because she wasn't a person.
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The fox girl now stood in a shooting range, waiting for the light signal to indicate when her training would start. The light suddenly turned green, it was time for her to act. Winona drew her pistol and pointed it downrange as the targets popped out. They were moving fast, a lot faster than previous times, but she kept focused and pulled the trigger. Shot after shot, she hit each target with near perfect accuracy, only missing out on a few on the times she had to reload. After much fast shooting, an alarm buzzed and the light turned red. The exercise was over. A man outside the shooting range recorded some information. "87.9% accuracy," he noted. This was a new record for the fox girl, she had been through the shooting drill many times, but now she had finally broken one of her previous records. This time though, it was only meant as an exercise, for the main event of the day was yet to come.
Winona was guided throughout the metallic complex halls by a few scientists and an armed guard on the way to her destination. The scientists would always engage in conversations with each other, but they never talked to her during this time, it was like she wasn't there. The guard wasn't much different, except for the fact that he carried a sub machine gun that he would be pointing at her back as they walked. Winona just walked silently with her eyes ahead. Eventually, they reached a large door which then opened up and revealed the area outside of the facility.
The fox girl had only been outside a few times, mostly for things like training with explosives and agility tests. This time it would be something different, something that she had concluded as they made their way over to a table with a bunch of gear instead of going to the trenches or the obstacle course. Laid out on the table were things that included a pistol, an assault rifle, armor as well as some other apparel, and a grenade of some sort. "Win," one of the scientists ordered, "Go to the table and put on the clothes and armor." This was a strange request, she had never worn clothes before, not even once during her time there. From the beginning Winona had always been nude and never really paid any mind to the concept of modesty. She had figured that clothes were something for people, and since she was not a person, she didn't get any. While she thought about all of this, she slipped into a jumpsuit that was padded in various areas and over it she put on a slightly heavy armored vest that shielded much of her torso. Finally, after buckling on a pair of boots and mounting a helmet that was shaped for her head, she was finished getting dressed. "Take the rest of what's left on the table then follow me," the voice ordered her again. The fox complied, after grabbing the rest of the gear, she followed the scientist into a new area.
The place that they arrived at was different from any of the other places that the fox had been through before. It was like a fortress of some sort, but with everything on the inside. Within the big walls was what looked like a battlefield, complete with ruined buildings, trenches, craters, sandbags and other things that one could expect from a place like this. Winona was directed to the center of it, then she was ordered to wait by the scientists. When the men reached an observation area, one of their voices spoke through a loud speaker, "Win, today you will be undergoing a live-fire combat test. You are to eliminate all hostiles or survive until the test is over. Lethal weaponry will be used. Get ready." While the fox had been through combat simulations, she had never been through any that used weaponry so this was new for her. What wasn't any different was the thought of potentially dying, but after all her training and previous experience, it didn't even faze her. With her rifle in hand and eyes scanning the battlefield, Winona was ready for combat.
"Starting the test in 3...2...1..." the intercom voice spoke once more. When the countdown finished the intercom buzzed, and loud metallic sounds came from all over the arena. Winona noticed that in various places, doors were opening, and through them came the her foes. They weren't androids like in previous tests, instead they were anthropomorphic super soldiers, just like Winona, but from different series and different species, although mostly canines. She couldn't tell how many there were, but she knew that she had to get a hold of the situation before things got out of hand. Looking at one door coming out of the ground, three soldiers emerged, before they could act, the fox girl fired her weapon and killed them before they could act. Gunfire from someone else rang out, and Winona turned to see a group of enemies spreading throughout cover. The fox girl ran into a nearby building and explored her options on how she could handle the situation. She found a hole in the building to outside and slid through it, making her way to some cover facing the building. A few soldiers arrived at the structure and were about ready to enter it, but their efforts were ended when Winona popped out of cover and shot them up.
The fox ran from cover to cover as a hail of enemy bullets chased her. She went into an alley and was met with an ambush on the other side that was just waiting for her. There was nowhere to run, the others that had been chasing her would soon close in from the other side. Winona leaped into the air and pushed off one of the walls, jumping high enough for her to get on top of one of the buildings. As the enemies who had been chasing her were running into the alley, she took aim from the roof and eliminated them. Noticing her weapon was empty, she decided to take the moment to reload. This action was interrupted when she heard a single loud bang and a powerful force hit her from behind, knocking her over. She had been shot.
Checking herself as she laid on the ground, Winona found that the shot had done no real damage to her, her armor did its job. Still, knowing that her armor didn't make her invincible, the fox girl quickly jumped off the building as more bullets flew in. Her enemies had their sights on her, but she didn't know where they were, in addition to this, she left her rifle behind when she was scrambling off the roof, Winona was in a really bad position. The fox stayed low and hid behind cover as she made her way out of the area to make her enemies lose sight of her. Among the ruins she found a tower of some sort that offered a good vantage point, and it had a ladder just out of sight from her foes. She quietly ascended the tower, and was relieved to find that there was no one at the top. From there the fox had a good view of the entire battlefield, she mapped out the area in her head and she pinpointed the locations of her remaining enemies. There were only three of them left, one was laying on a rooftop with a sniper rifle while the other two were actively patrolling nearby. Winona took the time to go over what equipment she had left and the grenade caught her eye. It was not the typical frag grenade she was familiar with, this one had a weird design like it was meant for something else. Upon closer inspection it read "Mk. 2 Decoy", and she figured out its purpose. After getting one last look at the combat zone, the fox girl stealthily descended the tower and made haste toward her enemies.
She pulled the pin out of the decoy grenade and lobbed it into a building just opposite of her foes, then quickly sneaked toward the position of the sniper. She ducked behind a corner before getting out in the open to cross over to the sniper's building. Once the decoy grenade went off, sounding like multiple gunshots, Winona sprinted across the area and reached the building. She scaled the building carefully, and at the top she found her enemy facing the other way, completely vulnerable. In an instance the fox girl quickly jumped on him from behind and got her arms around his neck. He fought hard, but she overpowered him and broke his neck. Turning her attention to where she threw the grenade, Winona saw that her remaining foes had just arrived at the scene and were checking it out. Keeping her fast pace, the fox girl jumped down to the ground and made a beeline for her enemies. As soon as she got there, they had just figured out that it was all a trick. Before they could react however, the fox drew her pistol and shot both of her enemies up. All the hostiles had been neutralized, and the buzzing intercom made her victory clear.
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"Stop her!" a frantic man in a crowd yelled as security guards armed with batons rushed into the room to surround Winona. In a corner nearby laid a man in agony, clutching his broken wrist. The fox darted her eyes around the room to see how many guards were around her then got in a combat stance, ready to fight. One of them rushed in and tried to strike her with the baton, but he was immediately countered and sent flying backwards. After this, the entire fight just turned into confusion with so much happening so fast. Through it all, Winona kept fighting her attackers, and one by one they dropped until there was only one guard left. The fox clutched her arm, feeling the pain after using it to block some of the attacks that she couldn't dodge. Believing that he had an opening at the sight of this, the remaining guard lunged forward in an attempt to strike her. His effort was futile, Winona stepped out of the way then clotheslined her foe to the ground. Now all of the security guards were on the ground, proven to be no match for the fox girl super soldier.
More guards entered the room, these ones armed with guns and restraint devices. They all turned their weapons toward the fox and started an intense stand-off. "Don't shoot, I can explain everything!" a scientist from the crowd called out as he stepped forward. "Then you better start explaining, and fast, Carter," the annoyed voice of Administrator Thorn demanded as he emerged from one of the doorways, "But first, deal with your little project." "Win, at ease. Stand down," Carter ordered. The fox was in a state of shock, but she complied and surrendered. Immediately, the guards closed in and forcefully restrained her, pinning her to the ground. "That wasn't necessary! I had it under control!" the angry scientist barked. "Did you?" the administrator berated him, "You certainly didn't when a security team was called in to deal with the situation." Thorn turned his attention to the wounded man in the corner and asked him, "Simmons, what happened?" The man growled, "That bitch broke my goddamn wrist!" "What did you think would happen after smacking her in the face like that?" Carter yelled at his colleague. "Silence!" Administrator Thorn ordered, "I'm going to give both of you a chance to speak your side of the story. I'll get to the bottom of this."
On the cold floor, the fox could only watch the exchange happening in front of her. The injured scientist told his superior that she attacked without warning. In truth, she did not attack him unprovoked. Simmons had a reputation for treating subjects like animals and hitting them for no reason. Winona was shocked when he suddenly slapped her without warning, she didn't know what to think at first. Eventually, she came to the conclusion that she had to fight back, so she responded in the only way she knew how. When the man tried to smack her again, she countered him and broke his wrist. This was the story that Carter explained to Thorn, and the one that the administrator believed in the end. "Simmons, you are being placed on probation. Next time it'll be termination, our workplace has no tolerance for unprofessional behavior," the administrator scowled at the injured scientist.
After the situation was diffused, the scientists who had been watching it all happen finally left, leaving only Carter, Thorn, the guards, and restrained Winona in the room. "My apologies administrator, that won't happen again," Carter stated. "We'll make sure it doesn't," Thorn scolded him, "This entire project will now be in Dr. Schneider's hands." "Wait, what?!" the scientist was shocked upon hearing this, "No, that can't happen. This is my project, I've been working on it for years!" The administrator gave a terminal reply, "We understand that, you will be compensated for all your efforts leading up to this point." "Why are you taking control of this?" Carter pleaded. "Because the nature of this project has proven to be too much for your team to handle, it demands only the best to carry through with it," Thorn explained, "We can't afford any risks with such a promising project." "What's going to happen to her?" the scientist worried, to which his superior answered, "Not much really, although we do have plans to install a neural controller, so we'll be sending her over to Will for an analysis right away." Carter was furious at this announcement and snapped, "She doesn't need a neural controller in her brain! And how can you trust that creep with her!" Amused with the scientist's response, Administrator Thorn warned him, "That decision is not up to you, it's up to the committee, and it has already been decided. Will is one of the best in our organization, so don't address him so disrespectfully again. And I would watch your tone if I were you, for a second there it sounded like you addressed F-021 as a person. Do I need to remind you what F-021 is?" After being reminded of his position, the scientist backed down, "No....that won't be necessary, administrator." "Good," the other man said, "You are dismissed for the rest of the day and free to do what you please. Your next assignment will be briefed tomorrow morning, good day," and he walked away.
The security guards suddenly hoisted Winona up and brought her started to bring her down a bright hallway, the medical wing of the complex. For the first time, she was feeling worried. She never really felt nervous like this before, but after getting subdued like an animal and hearing that she would be altered in a drastic way, the anxiety was the only thing running through her mind. While she didn't know everything about neural controllers, the fox did overhear conversations between scientists regarding that subject. She never feared death, but to her this felt like a much worse fate. She wanted to escape, but that would've been an impossible task with her gun-wielding captors, besides, the electricity from some of the restraints rendered her incapable of acting. The only thing the fox girl could do was wait and see where she was being taken and deal with whatever fate awaited her. Suddenly, the guards stopped and entered a room that looked like a doctor's office, but much more sinister, having all these weird machines and an examination table at the center. Unable to offer any resistance, the fox was mounted on the table, spread out lying on her back like a frog ready to be dissected. Shackles closed on her wrists and ankles, firmly securing the fox. Once they made sure that she was locked in place, the guards left her all alone in the room.
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The sounds of choking and gurgling came from a man who was pinned to the ground, with the arctic fox supersoldier on top of him and a Stun Baton forced down his bloody throat. The blue eyes of the fox coldly gazed into his as the man slowly faded away. The fox stood up, leaving the corpse with the weapon still in its throat, then walked over to the door, peeking outside to see that the halls were clear. Once she was sure, she made a mad dash out of there toward the closest thing to an exit she knew of....
"Winona, I'm sorry for all of this," Dr Carter's words echoed in her head, "You don't deserve what they have planned for you, you are perfection. Even then, you are also somewhat my child, the supersoldier project I've been working on all my life, and I'm not about to give you up to these men who could care less about everything you've done to be where you are now. I've seen that look in your eye, you've been wanting to get out of here for a long time. Now's your chance Win. At 6:30 AM tomorrow, there will be a small window of time to make a getaway. As that creep Will is about to 'examine' you, I will show up. I will leave a weapon for you in the room and loosen your restraints. I will then leave. Hold out for at least 3 minutes before killing Will, then make your way east down the hall. By this time, alarms will go off and security will be on the move. Keep going, there are no forks in the halls, and make your way over to the corpse disposal room. Once inside, jump into the chute and you will end up in the incinerator. If all goes according to plan, before the flames touch you, the power will be cut and with it the flames. You will have at most two minutes to get out of there. Once you are on the outside, just run, run as far and as fast as you can. Don't bother stopping until you can't see the facility...."
As on cue, loud alarms started blaring throughout the halls, making the fox girl cringe at the sudden loudness. Even with this though, she didn't slow down, she couldn't afford to, this was her one shot out of there. Clutching a pistol given to her by Carter earlier, Winona sprinted down the hall as fast she could. Far away on the other end ofthe hall, doors opened and armed security guards came pouring through, giving chase. The hall ahead of the fox had a sudden left turn ahead, so she took it quickly and avoided the incoming gunfire that left bullet holes in the walls. Out of their line of sight for now, Winona kept running and running. As explained by the doctor, it was a simple rather straightforward route, even though it had many turns, it never did have any branching paths.
After running several yards and making many turns, the corpse disposal room finally came into view. Luckily for Winona, it had no security features, so she was able to open the door without any issues. The room carried the odor of death, with various dark splatters on the floor, decaying blood. There were carts that also had these splatters as well, used to transport the corpses to this room. All the failed subjects wound up here eventually, whether they expired during a test or were euthanized on orders. Though there were no corpses in sight for the time, it sure smelled like there were. In the middle of the room on the ground was this large trap door device, it was the chute, where the dead bodies were placed and would fall into the slide below where they would make their way to the incinerator conveyors to burn. Winona pressed a foot on the dirty trap doors, and they parted. She took a deep breath then jumped down....
The chute was not far below, so her fall left no injuries. She slid down fast, her white fur being tainted by the muck on the slide. Down below at the bottom she noticed a bright orange glow emitting, the incinerator. Winona panicked, and tried to slow her descent, though without much success. She began to hyperventilate as she approached the glow. Suddenly, it just cut out and disappeared. Just as Carter said, the incinerator had shut down just in time to give Winona a chance to make it through without getting torched by the flames. When she reached the bottom, the fox continued her sprint down through the chamber. Despite the unit being shut down, the conveyor panels were still hot, and burned her feet upon contact. Even with the painful sensation, she didn't slow down. In less than a minute she got through the incinerator and reached the end of it. She frantically looked around for the exit that Carter forgot to mention, but found it, a small maintenance hatch leading outside. After opening it, she climbed down a ladder, entering a cave-like area, and she touched down on the soft ground....
It wasn't dirt or sand. The ground she stood on consisted of ashes and the burnt remains of many of her predecessors and other subjects used throughout the years. Winona was shaken by the sight, but remembered her mission and got back on the move. And she ran through the mounds of ash, her feet kicking up grey clouds and her fur getting covered in it. At the mouth of the cave was light, not some orange glow, but the golden warmth that only the sun could provide. Like a moth to a candle, she ran toward it....
Stepping outside, the light was blinding for the fox girl. After her eyes adjusted, she found herself in a great expanse. Beyond her looked what appeared to be what looked like a desert, but cold and dead. Beyond her laid badlands. The fox girl was tired and wanted to take a chance to catch her breath, but she couldn't risk it, she remembered Carter's words, she had to keep going. Winona, though feeling sore and winded, pushed herself onward and ran, trying to get as far as she could from the complex....
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By the time night fell, the facility was nowhere in sight, miles away from the exhausted fox girl. Winona could feel her body giving in as her vision blurred and her body ached, she had reached her limit. She collapsed to her knees on the cold sandy ground and panted heavily. She had been through extremely intense training and conditioning throughout her lifetime, but she had never run so far and so fast before. Regardless of how she felt from all the running, she was far away from the complex and grateful to know this.
The fox let herself fall limp onto the ground and rolled onto her back, facing the starry sky above. It was something she never really payed attention to before, especially with the amount of focus invested into her training when she was outdoors, but without any orders to follow, she had time to appreciate it for once. All the tiny lights in the sky fascinated Winona, and relaxed her as she laid on the sand. Her eyelids became heavy and her body began the process of shutting down, the beautiful starry sky being the last thing she saw before drifting away.
The fox awoke several hours earlier to the ugly caws of nearby buzzards, making her jolt up with her gun in hand. After the birds flew away with her sudden movement, Winona brushed the sand off herself and stood up. The sun hung high, it was afternoon, and a hot one. Winona's body felt hot and her lips dry, she took this time to assess her surroundings. Not too far away was what looked like a ruined city, something she hadn't noticed the night before with the darkness and her fatigue. Seeing no other viable options, the fox proceeded to make her way over to it......
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I'm just going to end this story here, don't really feel like going on with it. Feel like I took to much time with this story and lost my feeling for it, plus I still haven't had everything planned out for this char. Whatever.....
From several windows distributed throughout the room, humans in lab coats watched as the three robots approached the fox girl, this was their final chance to get the results they desired with the F series. The fox, designated F-021, was the product of their project to create a fully natural super soldier, she was the twenty-first in her series, and the last one alive. Like her predecessors, she was subjected to grueling training and experiments that carried the possibility of her death. The Level 5 Reflex Test was one of these experiments, it was the last one she needed to complete to be approved for combat and field use. This test had killed the three previous members of her series, for in this level of the test, combat was no longer simulated, the androids no longer held back and attacked at startling speeds with attacks that could easily break bones. There was no way to really fight them back either, since they seemed to be unaffected by melee attacks, all one could do was dodge their blows and try to survive until the time was up. One minute was a long time in a combat scenario, but that was how long she had to survive for the test to be considered a success.
"Countdown begins now," the intercom spoke as a screen with a timer began counting down. The robots began their attack with astonishing speed and closed in on the fox in less than two seconds. The fox girl just stayed in the same position, then acted at the last second, dodging the blows with little effort. One male scientist raised a brow at this, in the previous tests their subjects used a lot more movement to evade incoming attacks and often had set themselves up for a killing blow, so seeing their last subject using minimal effort to avoid attacks gave him hope that this project would be a success. The androids coordinated their attacks aggressively, but the fox girl kept dodging them easily as if she could see everything that was going on around her. She maneuvered to put her enemies between each other, so that way they weren't able to surround and overwhelm her. She had made it to the thirty-second mark, a point that none of the previous subjects were able to reach.
The androids became even more aggressive on their offensive, using more rapid attacks that no longer resembled the punches and kicks they were using before. This change made it harder for the fox to dodge the attacks, making her movements less graceful. She wasn't going to be able to keep this up for long. In the confusion, she noticed one of the androids closing, it was trying to set her up for another one to attack. The researchers watched anxiously as they anticipated her defeat, but they had no idea what would happen next.
The fox girl did something that the scientists didn't think she would do, she fought back. She hopped into the air and performed a spinning back kick on the approaching robot, knocking it off its feet and onto the ground. The onlookers were baffled by this sudden move, they thought she would be too busy dodging her enemies to do anything else, but she just knocked down a combat android with a single kick. The other two robots rushed her from both directions, but she rolled out of the way and got behind one of them. In this moment, she noticed a cord sticking out the back of the robots head and saw that all of them had this feature. She grabbed her target by the cord, and with a few violent yanks she ripped it right out and shut down the robot. The scientists running the test grew even more excited after they saw the fox girl disable one of the robots; defeating the robots was not part of this test being considered a success, but it was more than they could have ever hoped for with all their work and research leading up to this moment.
By now, the android she had knocked down had gotten back up and went over continue the engagement alongside the other active one. They resumed their combined blows in an effort to take out the fox, but she kept evading and countering. At one point she flipped one of the androids over her shoulder and ripped its cord out, leaving her with only one enemy standing. The fox girl was taken by surprise when the robot feinted a move, it followed this with a very fast and strong punch to the solar plexus that knocked her back some yards away. The crowd observing the fight gasped, for their creation had taken a hard hit and was in a very bad position now, they feared that the robot would end this with just one more blow while she was down on the ground. It stood right next to the downed fox and lifted its foot into the air, ready to crush her skull. Before it could smash her head, she hooked one foot around its ankle and used her legs in a last ditch attempt to trip it. This move worked, the android fell hard onto the floor and was stunned by the shock of the impact, giving the fox her chance to reach for its cord and deactivate it.
Everyone had been so focused on the entire fight that everyone forgot about the timer, which had expired a while ago. The fox girl had not only passed this test, she had exceeded the expectations of her creators by far. She was an experimental super soldier, but she had no synthetic enhancements, drugs or anything like that; she was the a more natural product from decades of research in a genome project, but the scientists never had seen any of their subjects in a low tier such as F able to defeat three combat androids on their hardest setting while unarmed, this was something else.
"Administrator Thorn," one of the scientists at the windows spoke into an intercom, "We request that you come down at once, our project is a success."
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The fox girl was brought to an observation room just outside of the test chamber, there her body was examined for injuries sustained during the fight. "Not even a fracture," a young scientist checked where the fox had been hit by the android, "A blow like that is enough to kill or incapacitate the average man, yet F-021 shrugged it off like nothing!" "Yes," another researcher in the room agreed, "Our project has not only met the desired goals, it surpassed them with flying colors." Another person in a lab coat stepped forward, saying, "The directors will be pleased to see what has been accomplished today. One of them is on their way down right now." As all of this happened, the fox girl stared blankly ahead, not expressing any feelings at all. She wasn't meant to be happy or sad, she was just meant to succeed, she was their project, and in all the time she had spent going through their experiments and training, she never did have time to develop much of a personality, not that her creators would have allowed it.
A man in a grey uniform with medals entered the room and met the other scientists. "That was quite amusing to watch you know," he said, referring to a recording of the test, "I've never seen anything like that before, an organic form neutralizing three androids in hand-to-hand combat." One man, the apparent leader of the project replied to his superior, "Glad to hear it sir. Now that everything is done, is this ready to be taken up to the committee?" Administrator Thorn replied, "Slow down Carter. Yes, the project is ready for that step, but slow down, I think that's enough excitement for one day."
The scientist who had been examining the fox came over to join the conversation. "Might I suggest something, sir," he asked Thorn. Carter quickly tried to interrupt him, "Not now Will, we'll talk about it later." "Talk about what later?" their superior asked them with suspicion, "Speak up, tell me what's on your mind." Despite Carter's disapproval, Will explained, "We've just been thinking about our project. We wanted to propose the idea of changing the designation of our experiment, or at least giving her an alias to use in place of her number." The administrator agreed, "I'll admit, F-021 is a mouthful. So what would you call it then?" "Winona," the young scientist replied, "or Win for short." "Any reason why you picked that name?" Thorn inquired. "It's the name of one of our favorite actors," he answered his superior. "Very well", the administrator responded coldly, "But don't forget what she is, she's not a person and she's not a pet." "Understood sir," Will nervously fretted as his superior walked away.
"Winona..." the fox girl thought about her new name. She didn't know what to think about it, she didn't like or dislike it. Even if she hated it she couldn't object, they would never listen to her because she wasn't a person.
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The fox girl now stood in a shooting range, waiting for the light signal to indicate when her training would start. The light suddenly turned green, it was time for her to act. Winona drew her pistol and pointed it downrange as the targets popped out. They were moving fast, a lot faster than previous times, but she kept focused and pulled the trigger. Shot after shot, she hit each target with near perfect accuracy, only missing out on a few on the times she had to reload. After much fast shooting, an alarm buzzed and the light turned red. The exercise was over. A man outside the shooting range recorded some information. "87.9% accuracy," he noted. This was a new record for the fox girl, she had been through the shooting drill many times, but now she had finally broken one of her previous records. This time though, it was only meant as an exercise, for the main event of the day was yet to come.
Winona was guided throughout the metallic complex halls by a few scientists and an armed guard on the way to her destination. The scientists would always engage in conversations with each other, but they never talked to her during this time, it was like she wasn't there. The guard wasn't much different, except for the fact that he carried a sub machine gun that he would be pointing at her back as they walked. Winona just walked silently with her eyes ahead. Eventually, they reached a large door which then opened up and revealed the area outside of the facility.
The fox girl had only been outside a few times, mostly for things like training with explosives and agility tests. This time it would be something different, something that she had concluded as they made their way over to a table with a bunch of gear instead of going to the trenches or the obstacle course. Laid out on the table were things that included a pistol, an assault rifle, armor as well as some other apparel, and a grenade of some sort. "Win," one of the scientists ordered, "Go to the table and put on the clothes and armor." This was a strange request, she had never worn clothes before, not even once during her time there. From the beginning Winona had always been nude and never really paid any mind to the concept of modesty. She had figured that clothes were something for people, and since she was not a person, she didn't get any. While she thought about all of this, she slipped into a jumpsuit that was padded in various areas and over it she put on a slightly heavy armored vest that shielded much of her torso. Finally, after buckling on a pair of boots and mounting a helmet that was shaped for her head, she was finished getting dressed. "Take the rest of what's left on the table then follow me," the voice ordered her again. The fox complied, after grabbing the rest of the gear, she followed the scientist into a new area.
The place that they arrived at was different from any of the other places that the fox had been through before. It was like a fortress of some sort, but with everything on the inside. Within the big walls was what looked like a battlefield, complete with ruined buildings, trenches, craters, sandbags and other things that one could expect from a place like this. Winona was directed to the center of it, then she was ordered to wait by the scientists. When the men reached an observation area, one of their voices spoke through a loud speaker, "Win, today you will be undergoing a live-fire combat test. You are to eliminate all hostiles or survive until the test is over. Lethal weaponry will be used. Get ready." While the fox had been through combat simulations, she had never been through any that used weaponry so this was new for her. What wasn't any different was the thought of potentially dying, but after all her training and previous experience, it didn't even faze her. With her rifle in hand and eyes scanning the battlefield, Winona was ready for combat.
"Starting the test in 3...2...1..." the intercom voice spoke once more. When the countdown finished the intercom buzzed, and loud metallic sounds came from all over the arena. Winona noticed that in various places, doors were opening, and through them came the her foes. They weren't androids like in previous tests, instead they were anthropomorphic super soldiers, just like Winona, but from different series and different species, although mostly canines. She couldn't tell how many there were, but she knew that she had to get a hold of the situation before things got out of hand. Looking at one door coming out of the ground, three soldiers emerged, before they could act, the fox girl fired her weapon and killed them before they could act. Gunfire from someone else rang out, and Winona turned to see a group of enemies spreading throughout cover. The fox girl ran into a nearby building and explored her options on how she could handle the situation. She found a hole in the building to outside and slid through it, making her way to some cover facing the building. A few soldiers arrived at the structure and were about ready to enter it, but their efforts were ended when Winona popped out of cover and shot them up.
The fox ran from cover to cover as a hail of enemy bullets chased her. She went into an alley and was met with an ambush on the other side that was just waiting for her. There was nowhere to run, the others that had been chasing her would soon close in from the other side. Winona leaped into the air and pushed off one of the walls, jumping high enough for her to get on top of one of the buildings. As the enemies who had been chasing her were running into the alley, she took aim from the roof and eliminated them. Noticing her weapon was empty, she decided to take the moment to reload. This action was interrupted when she heard a single loud bang and a powerful force hit her from behind, knocking her over. She had been shot.
Checking herself as she laid on the ground, Winona found that the shot had done no real damage to her, her armor did its job. Still, knowing that her armor didn't make her invincible, the fox girl quickly jumped off the building as more bullets flew in. Her enemies had their sights on her, but she didn't know where they were, in addition to this, she left her rifle behind when she was scrambling off the roof, Winona was in a really bad position. The fox stayed low and hid behind cover as she made her way out of the area to make her enemies lose sight of her. Among the ruins she found a tower of some sort that offered a good vantage point, and it had a ladder just out of sight from her foes. She quietly ascended the tower, and was relieved to find that there was no one at the top. From there the fox had a good view of the entire battlefield, she mapped out the area in her head and she pinpointed the locations of her remaining enemies. There were only three of them left, one was laying on a rooftop with a sniper rifle while the other two were actively patrolling nearby. Winona took the time to go over what equipment she had left and the grenade caught her eye. It was not the typical frag grenade she was familiar with, this one had a weird design like it was meant for something else. Upon closer inspection it read "Mk. 2 Decoy", and she figured out its purpose. After getting one last look at the combat zone, the fox girl stealthily descended the tower and made haste toward her enemies.
She pulled the pin out of the decoy grenade and lobbed it into a building just opposite of her foes, then quickly sneaked toward the position of the sniper. She ducked behind a corner before getting out in the open to cross over to the sniper's building. Once the decoy grenade went off, sounding like multiple gunshots, Winona sprinted across the area and reached the building. She scaled the building carefully, and at the top she found her enemy facing the other way, completely vulnerable. In an instance the fox girl quickly jumped on him from behind and got her arms around his neck. He fought hard, but she overpowered him and broke his neck. Turning her attention to where she threw the grenade, Winona saw that her remaining foes had just arrived at the scene and were checking it out. Keeping her fast pace, the fox girl jumped down to the ground and made a beeline for her enemies. As soon as she got there, they had just figured out that it was all a trick. Before they could react however, the fox drew her pistol and shot both of her enemies up. All the hostiles had been neutralized, and the buzzing intercom made her victory clear.
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"Stop her!" a frantic man in a crowd yelled as security guards armed with batons rushed into the room to surround Winona. In a corner nearby laid a man in agony, clutching his broken wrist. The fox darted her eyes around the room to see how many guards were around her then got in a combat stance, ready to fight. One of them rushed in and tried to strike her with the baton, but he was immediately countered and sent flying backwards. After this, the entire fight just turned into confusion with so much happening so fast. Through it all, Winona kept fighting her attackers, and one by one they dropped until there was only one guard left. The fox clutched her arm, feeling the pain after using it to block some of the attacks that she couldn't dodge. Believing that he had an opening at the sight of this, the remaining guard lunged forward in an attempt to strike her. His effort was futile, Winona stepped out of the way then clotheslined her foe to the ground. Now all of the security guards were on the ground, proven to be no match for the fox girl super soldier.
More guards entered the room, these ones armed with guns and restraint devices. They all turned their weapons toward the fox and started an intense stand-off. "Don't shoot, I can explain everything!" a scientist from the crowd called out as he stepped forward. "Then you better start explaining, and fast, Carter," the annoyed voice of Administrator Thorn demanded as he emerged from one of the doorways, "But first, deal with your little project." "Win, at ease. Stand down," Carter ordered. The fox was in a state of shock, but she complied and surrendered. Immediately, the guards closed in and forcefully restrained her, pinning her to the ground. "That wasn't necessary! I had it under control!" the angry scientist barked. "Did you?" the administrator berated him, "You certainly didn't when a security team was called in to deal with the situation." Thorn turned his attention to the wounded man in the corner and asked him, "Simmons, what happened?" The man growled, "That bitch broke my goddamn wrist!" "What did you think would happen after smacking her in the face like that?" Carter yelled at his colleague. "Silence!" Administrator Thorn ordered, "I'm going to give both of you a chance to speak your side of the story. I'll get to the bottom of this."
On the cold floor, the fox could only watch the exchange happening in front of her. The injured scientist told his superior that she attacked without warning. In truth, she did not attack him unprovoked. Simmons had a reputation for treating subjects like animals and hitting them for no reason. Winona was shocked when he suddenly slapped her without warning, she didn't know what to think at first. Eventually, she came to the conclusion that she had to fight back, so she responded in the only way she knew how. When the man tried to smack her again, she countered him and broke his wrist. This was the story that Carter explained to Thorn, and the one that the administrator believed in the end. "Simmons, you are being placed on probation. Next time it'll be termination, our workplace has no tolerance for unprofessional behavior," the administrator scowled at the injured scientist.
After the situation was diffused, the scientists who had been watching it all happen finally left, leaving only Carter, Thorn, the guards, and restrained Winona in the room. "My apologies administrator, that won't happen again," Carter stated. "We'll make sure it doesn't," Thorn scolded him, "This entire project will now be in Dr. Schneider's hands." "Wait, what?!" the scientist was shocked upon hearing this, "No, that can't happen. This is my project, I've been working on it for years!" The administrator gave a terminal reply, "We understand that, you will be compensated for all your efforts leading up to this point." "Why are you taking control of this?" Carter pleaded. "Because the nature of this project has proven to be too much for your team to handle, it demands only the best to carry through with it," Thorn explained, "We can't afford any risks with such a promising project." "What's going to happen to her?" the scientist worried, to which his superior answered, "Not much really, although we do have plans to install a neural controller, so we'll be sending her over to Will for an analysis right away." Carter was furious at this announcement and snapped, "She doesn't need a neural controller in her brain! And how can you trust that creep with her!" Amused with the scientist's response, Administrator Thorn warned him, "That decision is not up to you, it's up to the committee, and it has already been decided. Will is one of the best in our organization, so don't address him so disrespectfully again. And I would watch your tone if I were you, for a second there it sounded like you addressed F-021 as a person. Do I need to remind you what F-021 is?" After being reminded of his position, the scientist backed down, "No....that won't be necessary, administrator." "Good," the other man said, "You are dismissed for the rest of the day and free to do what you please. Your next assignment will be briefed tomorrow morning, good day," and he walked away.
The security guards suddenly hoisted Winona up and brought her started to bring her down a bright hallway, the medical wing of the complex. For the first time, she was feeling worried. She never really felt nervous like this before, but after getting subdued like an animal and hearing that she would be altered in a drastic way, the anxiety was the only thing running through her mind. While she didn't know everything about neural controllers, the fox did overhear conversations between scientists regarding that subject. She never feared death, but to her this felt like a much worse fate. She wanted to escape, but that would've been an impossible task with her gun-wielding captors, besides, the electricity from some of the restraints rendered her incapable of acting. The only thing the fox girl could do was wait and see where she was being taken and deal with whatever fate awaited her. Suddenly, the guards stopped and entered a room that looked like a doctor's office, but much more sinister, having all these weird machines and an examination table at the center. Unable to offer any resistance, the fox was mounted on the table, spread out lying on her back like a frog ready to be dissected. Shackles closed on her wrists and ankles, firmly securing the fox. Once they made sure that she was locked in place, the guards left her all alone in the room.
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The sounds of choking and gurgling came from a man who was pinned to the ground, with the arctic fox supersoldier on top of him and a Stun Baton forced down his bloody throat. The blue eyes of the fox coldly gazed into his as the man slowly faded away. The fox stood up, leaving the corpse with the weapon still in its throat, then walked over to the door, peeking outside to see that the halls were clear. Once she was sure, she made a mad dash out of there toward the closest thing to an exit she knew of....
"Winona, I'm sorry for all of this," Dr Carter's words echoed in her head, "You don't deserve what they have planned for you, you are perfection. Even then, you are also somewhat my child, the supersoldier project I've been working on all my life, and I'm not about to give you up to these men who could care less about everything you've done to be where you are now. I've seen that look in your eye, you've been wanting to get out of here for a long time. Now's your chance Win. At 6:30 AM tomorrow, there will be a small window of time to make a getaway. As that creep Will is about to 'examine' you, I will show up. I will leave a weapon for you in the room and loosen your restraints. I will then leave. Hold out for at least 3 minutes before killing Will, then make your way east down the hall. By this time, alarms will go off and security will be on the move. Keep going, there are no forks in the halls, and make your way over to the corpse disposal room. Once inside, jump into the chute and you will end up in the incinerator. If all goes according to plan, before the flames touch you, the power will be cut and with it the flames. You will have at most two minutes to get out of there. Once you are on the outside, just run, run as far and as fast as you can. Don't bother stopping until you can't see the facility...."
As on cue, loud alarms started blaring throughout the halls, making the fox girl cringe at the sudden loudness. Even with this though, she didn't slow down, she couldn't afford to, this was her one shot out of there. Clutching a pistol given to her by Carter earlier, Winona sprinted down the hall as fast she could. Far away on the other end ofthe hall, doors opened and armed security guards came pouring through, giving chase. The hall ahead of the fox had a sudden left turn ahead, so she took it quickly and avoided the incoming gunfire that left bullet holes in the walls. Out of their line of sight for now, Winona kept running and running. As explained by the doctor, it was a simple rather straightforward route, even though it had many turns, it never did have any branching paths.
After running several yards and making many turns, the corpse disposal room finally came into view. Luckily for Winona, it had no security features, so she was able to open the door without any issues. The room carried the odor of death, with various dark splatters on the floor, decaying blood. There were carts that also had these splatters as well, used to transport the corpses to this room. All the failed subjects wound up here eventually, whether they expired during a test or were euthanized on orders. Though there were no corpses in sight for the time, it sure smelled like there were. In the middle of the room on the ground was this large trap door device, it was the chute, where the dead bodies were placed and would fall into the slide below where they would make their way to the incinerator conveyors to burn. Winona pressed a foot on the dirty trap doors, and they parted. She took a deep breath then jumped down....
The chute was not far below, so her fall left no injuries. She slid down fast, her white fur being tainted by the muck on the slide. Down below at the bottom she noticed a bright orange glow emitting, the incinerator. Winona panicked, and tried to slow her descent, though without much success. She began to hyperventilate as she approached the glow. Suddenly, it just cut out and disappeared. Just as Carter said, the incinerator had shut down just in time to give Winona a chance to make it through without getting torched by the flames. When she reached the bottom, the fox continued her sprint down through the chamber. Despite the unit being shut down, the conveyor panels were still hot, and burned her feet upon contact. Even with the painful sensation, she didn't slow down. In less than a minute she got through the incinerator and reached the end of it. She frantically looked around for the exit that Carter forgot to mention, but found it, a small maintenance hatch leading outside. After opening it, she climbed down a ladder, entering a cave-like area, and she touched down on the soft ground....
It wasn't dirt or sand. The ground she stood on consisted of ashes and the burnt remains of many of her predecessors and other subjects used throughout the years. Winona was shaken by the sight, but remembered her mission and got back on the move. And she ran through the mounds of ash, her feet kicking up grey clouds and her fur getting covered in it. At the mouth of the cave was light, not some orange glow, but the golden warmth that only the sun could provide. Like a moth to a candle, she ran toward it....
Stepping outside, the light was blinding for the fox girl. After her eyes adjusted, she found herself in a great expanse. Beyond her looked what appeared to be what looked like a desert, but cold and dead. Beyond her laid badlands. The fox girl was tired and wanted to take a chance to catch her breath, but she couldn't risk it, she remembered Carter's words, she had to keep going. Winona, though feeling sore and winded, pushed herself onward and ran, trying to get as far as she could from the complex....
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By the time night fell, the facility was nowhere in sight, miles away from the exhausted fox girl. Winona could feel her body giving in as her vision blurred and her body ached, she had reached her limit. She collapsed to her knees on the cold sandy ground and panted heavily. She had been through extremely intense training and conditioning throughout her lifetime, but she had never run so far and so fast before. Regardless of how she felt from all the running, she was far away from the complex and grateful to know this.
The fox let herself fall limp onto the ground and rolled onto her back, facing the starry sky above. It was something she never really payed attention to before, especially with the amount of focus invested into her training when she was outdoors, but without any orders to follow, she had time to appreciate it for once. All the tiny lights in the sky fascinated Winona, and relaxed her as she laid on the sand. Her eyelids became heavy and her body began the process of shutting down, the beautiful starry sky being the last thing she saw before drifting away.
The fox awoke several hours earlier to the ugly caws of nearby buzzards, making her jolt up with her gun in hand. After the birds flew away with her sudden movement, Winona brushed the sand off herself and stood up. The sun hung high, it was afternoon, and a hot one. Winona's body felt hot and her lips dry, she took this time to assess her surroundings. Not too far away was what looked like a ruined city, something she hadn't noticed the night before with the darkness and her fatigue. Seeing no other viable options, the fox proceeded to make her way over to it......
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I'm just going to end this story here, don't really feel like going on with it. Feel like I took to much time with this story and lost my feeling for it, plus I still haven't had everything planned out for this char. Whatever.....